Contemplating starting a business in Ada, Oklahoma? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Ada.
What Business Are You Starting?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read How to Evaluate a Business Idea.
For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Painting Contractors Business guide or our Opening a Site Location Consultants Business guide.
Remember that you are starting a business in Ada. Some businesses will do better in Ada than others. A critical consideration is whether Ada demographics mesh well with your startup concept.
Ada, Oklahoma Demographic Information
Ada has an active business community that includes small businesses,
mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Ada demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Ada.
| Business Size | # of
Businesses |
| 1-4 Employees |
3825 |
| 5-9 Employees |
1854 |
| 10-19 Employees |
972 |
| 20-49 Employees |
639 |
| 50-99 Employees |
144 |
| 100-249 Employees |
45 |
| 250-499 Employees |
36 |
| 500-999 Employees |
36 |
| 1000+ Employees |
0 |
| All Ada Businesses |
7551 |
As a new Ada entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Ada for each business category. By looking at this chart, you can get
a general sense for how much competition there is in the business niche that
you are pursuing.
| Business Type |
# of
Businesses |
| Architectural Services |
2 |
| Art Dealers |
1 |
| Automotive Exhaust System Repair |
1 |
| Automotive Glass Replacement Shops |
1 |
| Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores |
9 |
| Automotive Transmission Repair |
1 |
| Baked Goods Stores |
1 |
| Beauty Salons |
2 |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores |
2 |
| Blood and Organ Banks |
1 |
| Book Stores |
2 |
| Bowling Centers |
1 |
| Business Associations |
2 |
| Cable and Other Program Distribution |
1 |
| Cafeterias |
1 |
| Car Washes |
1 |
| Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services |
1 |
| Cement Manufacturing |
1 |
| Cemeteries and Crematories |
2 |
| Child and Youth Services |
3 |
| Child Day Care Services |
14 |
| Civic and Social Organizations |
4 |
| Collection Agencies |
1 |
| Commercial Lithographic Printing |
3 |
| Commercial Screen Printing |
1 |
| Community Food Services |
2 |
| Computer and Software Stores |
2 |
| Computer Facilities Management Services |
2 |
| Computer Systems Design Services |
1 |
| Construction Machinery Manufacturing |
1 |
| Construction Sand and Gravel Mining |
1 |
| Consumer Lending |
13 |
| Continuing Care Retirement Communities |
1 |
| Convenience Stores |
4 |
| Credit Unions |
3 |
| Custom Computer Programming Services |
1 |
| Diagnostic Imaging Centers |
1 |
| Document Preparation Services |
2 |
| Drilling Oil and Gas Wells |
3 |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
1 |
| Educational Support Services |
1 |
| Electric Power Distribution |
3 |
| Electrical Contractors |
11 |
| Electronic Shopping |
1 |
| Emergency and Other Relief Services |
1 |
| Engineering Services |
2 |
| Environmental Consulting Services |
1 |
| Exam Preparation and Tutoring |
1 |
| Exterminating and Pest Control Services |
2 |
| Family Clothing Stores |
4 |
| Family Planning Centers |
1 |
| Farm Labor Contractors and Crew Leaders |
1 |
| Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers |
2 |
| Fine Arts Schools |
1 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors |
1 |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers |
2 |
| Floor Covering Stores |
1 |
| Florists |
4 |
| Food (Health) Supplement Stores |
2 |
| Food Service Contractors |
2 |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation |
3 |
| Freight Transportation Arrangement |
1 |
| Full-Service Restaurants |
21 |
| Funeral Homes and Funeral Services |
2 |
| Furniture Stores |
6 |
| General Automotive Repair |
7 |
| General Freight Trucking, Local |
1 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
2 |
| General Rental Centers |
2 |
| General Warehousing and Storage |
1 |
| Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores |
1 |
| Golf Courses and Country Clubs |
1 |
| Grantmaking Foundations |
1 |
| Hardware Stores |
2 |
| Home Centers |
1 |
| Home Health Care Services |
7 |
| Home Health Equipment Rental |
1 |
| Homes for the Elderly |
1 |
| Household Appliance Stores |
2 |
| Industrial Launderers |
1 |
| Institutional Furniture Manufacturing |
1 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages |
20 |
| Internet Service Providers |
2 |
| Investment Advice |
1 |
| Iron and Steel Mills |
1 |
| Janitorial Services |
1 |
| Jewelry Stores |
3 |
| Landscaping Services |
2 |
| Limited-Service Restaurants |
19 |
| Livestock Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Locksmiths |
1 |
| Luggage Manufacturing |
1 |
| Machine Shops |
1 |
| Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers |
1 |
| Masonry Contractors |
3 |
| Meat Markets |
2 |
| Medical Laboratories |
2 |
| Men's Clothing Stores |
2 |
| Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers |
1 |
| Motorcycle Dealers |
1 |
| Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores |
2 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
1 |
| New Car Dealers |
5 |
| Newspaper Publishers |
1 |
| Nonresidential Property Managers |
2 |
| Nursing Care Facilities |
4 |
| Office Administrative Services |
7 |
| Office Supplies and Stationery Stores |
1 |
| Offices of Certified Public Accountants |
16 |
| Offices of Chiropractors |
5 |
| Offices of Dentists |
10 |
| Offices of Lawyers |
23 |
| Offices of Optometrists |
6 |
| Offices of Real Estate Appraisers |
1 |
| Paint and Wallpaper Stores |
1 |
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors |
2 |
| Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals |
5 |
| Pharmacies and Drug Stores |
7 |
| Photography Studios, Portrait |
2 |
| Private Mail Centers |
1 |
| Professional Employer Organizations |
2 |
| Public Relations Agencies |
1 |
| Racetracks |
1 |
| Radio Stations |
3 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing |
1 |
| Real Estate Credit |
2 |
| Residential Property Managers |
3 |
| Retail Bakeries |
1 |
| Savings Institutions |
1 |
| Securities Brokerage |
5 |
| Shoe Stores |
3 |
| Site Preparation Contractors |
5 |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars |
5 |
| Soft Drink Manufacturing |
1 |
| Sporting Goods Stores |
2 |
| Sports and Recreation Instruction |
1 |
| Tax Preparation Services |
3 |
| Telemarketing Bureaus |
1 |
| Temporary Help Services |
1 |
| Temporary Shelters |
1 |
| Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers |
1 |
| Tire Dealers |
2 |
| Title Abstract and Settlement Offices |
1 |
| Tobacco Stores |
1 |
| Truss Manufacturing |
1 |
| Used Car Dealers |
5 |
| Used Household and Office Goods Moving |
1 |
| Used Merchandise Stores |
4 |
| Vending Machine Operators |
3 |
| Veterinary Services |
5 |
| Video Tape and Disc Rental |
1 |
| Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters |
1 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers |
1 |
| Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
3 |
| Women's Clothing Stores |
4 |
Is a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?
As you drive around Ada, you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. Is it perhaps smarter to franchise a business instead of doing it from scratch.
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. To help you learn more about franchising, we've gathered a ton of articles on franchising, including Franchise Marketing Support. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing our Franchise Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include Edo Japan and Great Khan's Mongolian Festival. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Interior Environment Franchises.
Note on Ada Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Ada.
What About Buying an Existing Ada Business?
An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Oklahoma. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Ada.
If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.
Naming the Company
Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.
Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Naming a Company.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Ada, it's imperative that you check now that no other Oklahoma company is using the business name you want to use.
Where to Get Money to Start a Company
Getting your Ada business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.
Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as 504 Loans.
For Ada entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, you'll want to take a look at our List of Oklahoma Angel Investors and our List of Oklahoma Venture Capital Firms.
Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Good entrepreneurs recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.
Given that you are starting a business in Ada, Oklahoma, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Oklahoma universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Ada entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
Never Give Up
Most new Ada businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Ada and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Ada, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Ada, Oklahoma
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Ada.
- Resources for Ada, Oklahoma Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Ada entrepreneurs.
- Oklahoma Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Oklahoma.
- Oklahoma Small Business Development Center - Whether you are in business or thinking about it, the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center staff can assist you. Their goal is to help Oklahoma entrepreneurs like you be more successful.
- Ada, Oklahoma Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Ada, Oklahoma newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Ada area.
- Ada, Oklahoma Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Ada, Oklahoma area radio stations.
- Ada, Oklahoma Payroll Services - This list includes Ada, Oklahoma payroll services, national payroll services for Ada, and helpful information on choosing a Ada payroll service.
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